Cetacea
by fallacies
Summary: Fate / Grand Order: At the final confrontation with the King of Magicians, certain truths come to light. Fortunately, Gudako is familiar with the oldest Mystery in the world. A humorous murder mystery, comprised of brief snippets.
1. Questions 1 to 5

**Cetacea**  
a complete _Fate_ / _Grand Order_ oneshot  
by fallacies

* * *

Q1. **What if he had an accomplice?**

* * *

It's a closed-circle mystery.

You're stranded in a research laboratory deep within the Alps, six thousand meters above sea level. After a series of explosions rock the building and kill or severely injure the majority of your coworkers, the man who claims responsibility declares that a great cataclysm has befallen the world beyond. Communications outside the facility are cut not because of interference or sabotage, but because _the rest of humanity is now dead_.

You think he might be lying. Nothing so ridiculous could actually be true, right?

Wrong.

Your immediate superior - the senior-most member of the surviving staff - confirms the murderer's claims as soon as things begin to calm down. There is no escape; there is no out; there is no future.

Your sole hope, he tells you, is the path that you forge with your own two hands - because there can exist only a single truth. The foundations of the Common Sense of Man are under threat. Unless you secure their continued existence, the world that you've known your entire life will be invalidated.

Reclaim the past. Rebuild the future. Deliver the world from the fate of annihilation. As one amongst the last representatives of humanity, it's your duty and obligation to fight the Shadows.

This is the Rite of Succession: The Grand Order.

Carried away by the heat of rhetoric, your multitude of questions are momentarily forgotten. By the time you recall them again, it dawns on you that you've perhaps committed a grave error ...

* * *

Q2. **Why isn't Chaldea 201X considered a Singularity as well?**

* * *

Contrary to expectations, the first and final singularity isn't at the dawn of the Consensus of Man. It's far closer to home - in the halls of Chaldea itself.

Accessed with full administrator privileges, courtesy of Da Vinci-chan's hacking, the three servers of TRISMEGISTUS officially designate the pseudo-holographic projection of CHALDEAS in the Command Center as the concealed 'Singularity i' - the number before zero. Even though the hardware within the chamber should've been destroyed in the explosion that killed poor Olga-Marie, facility-wide metering of energy demands indicates that systems somehow remain operational.

Proceeding with caution, you advance to the heart of the laboratory with Mashu, Da Vinci, and three of your best fighters in tow. Your final companion is a cloaked Servant, recently summoned, but fully ascended.

What awaits at destination is the termination of the Great War.

* * *

Q3. **Isn't it kind of unfair that you only get to take six Servants into battle?**

* * *

Those of your companions who survived the first wave of demons now gather about you protectively, bleeding as they warily regard the twisting appendages that grow from the chamber's damaged walls - which wreathe nest-like about the crimson sphere overhead. The King of Magicians paces forth from amidst the creatures, smiling with a maddened gleam in his eyes.

"You've done well to discern the true form of CHALDEAS, Daughter of Eve," he says, addressing you. "In the end, however, this changes nothing. By the Original Sin, the fate of man is long foreordained. The Day of Judgment comes."

At this point, you can't help but smile.

"Actually," you say, "this changes everything."

* * *

Q4. **When the truth is known only to the Devil, can we trust him to tell it straight?**

* * *

"Sempai ... ?" Mashu asks, looking to you with obvious worry.

"You know," you say, "for a long time, I wondered why Professor Lev would even bother to sabotage Chaldea. If the destruction of humanity is inevitable, we'd all just fall over and die without his intervention, right? It's a completely unnecessary effort."

Solomon's eyes narrow.

"Those overtaken by the logic of demons are wont to prioritize their base-most desires," he says. "Efficiency and necessity are constructs that exist only within the Common Sense of Man."

"'Lev's actions make no sense because the devil made him do it,'" you paraphrase. "But that's the thing, see? You and your people say all of this stuff, and we're just supposed to take it - as if your honesty's utterly beyond question. How do we know if any of it's true? How do we know you aren't just lying?"

Solomon chuckles.

"I have no reason to lie," he says, spreading his arms. "You survive yet solely because I choose to humor you. But if indeed you wish to entertain this fantasy of yours, out of mercy and generosity, I should deign to hear you out. Come. Tell me why Lev Reinol Flauros would sabotage Chaldea."

"It's very simple," you say. "He wanted to paint a picture."

* * *

Q5. **Who was it that told us about the outside world being destroyed, again?**

* * *

"Why didn't he just kill everyone?" you ask rhetorically. "He was one of the chief architects of the organization, and Olga-Marie trusted him implicitly. If he wanted to collapse the laboratory and kill everyone inside, nobody would've been able to stop him."

"You mean ... Professor Lev wanted us to survive?" asked Mashu. "He just wanted us to suffer, or something?"

"Maybe he was possessed," you answer, playing devil's advocate to your own argument. "Maybe every act he committed was just arbitrarily malicious. If the world is ending, and humanity's doomed no matter what, that's a perfectly reasonable answer. On the other hand, that would make talking about his motives pretty much meaningless - so let's categorically disregard this as a possibility. Let's assume for a moment that he was acting rationally, for a specific reason. Of the members of the Foundation with compatibility to the leyshift system, why would he eliminate everyone except us?"

"Because we aren't very highly ranked within the Foundation?" asks Mashu.

"No," you answer. "Because we're gullible. Because, as novices in the practice of magecraft, we served his needs as an audience."

"Hoh?" says Solomon, smiling in amusement. "And why would Lev Reinol Flauros require an audience?"

"Da Vinci-chan," you say, looking to the older girl. "Are you capable of confirming the status of the environment outside Chaldea via magecraft?"

Da Vinci frowns.

"I've told you before, Gudako-chan," she says. "Even if I was summoned as a Caster, I'm an artist and scientist foremost. I do have a comprehensive understanding of modern thaumaturgical theory, but actual magecraft aside from my capabilities as a Servant isn't something that I can perform."

"And what about you, Mashu?" you ask.

Embarrassed, Mashu looks away.

"Um ... I've been practicing ... but no, I can't."

"So," you say. "Why precisely are we under the impression that the world outside of Chaldea is gone?" You make a gesture with your hands. "That's right. Because Professor Lev said so, and because we can't independently determine otherwise."

"But didn't Doctor Roman confirm what he said?" asks Mashu.

"No," you answer. "If you think back, he told us that communications were down, and that nobody who ventured outside came back. Everything else he stated was explicitly conjecture. 'It's possible that the entire world is already dead,' and 'what Lev said might not be a lie,' and so forth."

Between her bangs, Mashu's visible eye widens.

"That means-"

"That means," you continue, "that aside from Professor Lev's testimony, we have absolutely zero evidence that the world outside is in fact destroyed. I can't confirm otherwise. Neither can you or Da Vinci-chan." You pause. "But you know, it's curious. There is one person at Chaldea that should've been able to tell us more about the situation. In fact, he even studied with Professor Lev during his apprenticeship at the Clock Tower."

"Doctor Useless, you mean?" asks Da Vinci, incredulous.

You nod.

"Don't you find it odd?" you ask. "Doctor Roman's a graduate of the Clock Tower, but his initial response to Professor Lev's statements amounted to telling us a handful of facts we could've confirmed entirely without his expertise in magecraft. He also happens to be the only remaining staff member with administrative access to SHIVA - a system capable of observing the exterior of the facility. However, we've only ever seen him using his privileges to investigate other time periods."

Glancing across the chamber, you meet Solomon's gaze.

"I'd say it's incredibly convenient that every other staff member potentially capable of calling out Professor Lev on his bullshit happened to be right here in the Command Center when the bombs went off." Theatrically, you press a hand to your chest, pretending to be shocked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that Doctor Roman's starting to sound a lot like an accomplice. Wouldn't you agree, King of Magicians?"

You smile.

"Or should I say, Romani Eichemann?"

* * *

 **Notes** :

This story doesn't wholly consist of Gudako talking Solomon to death. However, as it is the revelation scene of a mystery, expect a lot of talking. The later segments tend to be longer and more involved.


	2. Question 6

Q6. **If the future isn't set in stone, how can fate exist?**

* * *

For a moment, Solomon merely regards you in silence. Then, beneath the crimson light of CHALDEAS, his figure subtly shifts: White hair is stained in an orangish-blond hue - and his clothes take on the familiar cut of a medic's uniform.

He grins; and beside you, Da Vinci sputters in disbelief.

"You know, I really did underestimate you, Gudako-chan," says Roman. "Got a bit full of myself, because it seemed like you were missing all of the clues I was dropping. This name, for example. Roman? So-Roman? Get it?"

At your lack of reaction, his gaze falls, and his expression becomes slightly self-deprecating.

"Sh'lomo silly-man. Nobody laughs at my jokes, ever ..."

Abruptly changing mood, he meets your eyes, smiling.

"Still, I gotta give it to you," he says. "That was a great reveal scene right there. Grade-A Holmes material. If I were a villain from a Hannah-Barbara cartoon, I'd be ranting something about 'meddling kids' just about now."

"D- Doctor Roman?" asks Mashu.

"Hi, Mashu-chan," says Roman, playfully waving his hand.

"It ... it isn't true, is it?" she asks. "You're really Solomon the King?"

"Sadly," he replies, "I'm afraid so. Your friendly neighborhood Doctor Roman is secretly an ORE-TUEEE uber-reincarnating legendary hero, just like the protagonists of all those webnovels you kids read online. Predictable plot twist, I know - especially since Gudako here's joked about me being a last boss before. Still, a mentor figure revealing himself as the primary antagonist in the eleventh hour is one of the archetypal classics that nobody ever gets tired of. You see it in video games all the time!"

"But you've been helping us!" Tears gather at the corners of Mashu's eyes. "You've helped us restore each time period to its proper course!"

"He hasn't been helping us at all," you say, correcting her. "He's been setting us up for fights. In the first place, we were recruited to Chaldea because SHIVA's projections indicated that humanity would soon cease to exist. But just to recap - who was it that created SHIVA again?"

"Professor Lev ..." Mashu trails off.

"And Professor Lev was intimately involved in the maintenance and debugging of the environmental modelling algorithms of CHALDEAS," you say. "In other words, we're only here because somebody wanted us to be. We're fighting for a cause that they laid out for us - and every bit of information we know came from them. Even the knowledge that a Singularity i exists came out of a file we recovered from TRISMEGISTUS."

"But we've seen the past with our own eyes!" says Mashu.

"At this point, I wouldn't be too surprised if these so-called 'Singularities' we've been visiting are really all just hyper-realistic virtual simulations," you say. "We've been told that the course of history is self-correcting, but I don't see how that's even possible unless the 'correcting factor' extrapolates backwards from some kind of predefined future. And supposing that the future is definite, nothing that we do here and now matters."

Across the chamber, Doctor Roman laughs.

"Being a bit too paranoid there, Gudako-chan," he says, teasingly. "Though I know you don't have any reason to trust me, I can guarantee that every time period you've visited is one hundred percent authentic. Scout's honor!"

He raises a finger.

"But, you're right," he says. "The future can exist only as a waveform that hasn't yet collapsed to a single possibility. There's no such thing as an immutable plot to the course of human history. There's no such thing as a 'necessary' foundation to the evolution of the Shared Unconscious. Ergo, it's patently ridiculous to expect that a disrupted timeline would automatically reassert its course based on some sort of mystical template. If that were actually true, then any evidence of extratemporal meddling on my part would've been wiped out with or without your intervention."

"... but, if the 'self-corrections' that SHIVA's been showing us aren't real," says Mashu, "that means we actually haven't been helping anyone at all ..."

"We've been intervening at the turning points of the history known to us," you say. "We just haven't been performing the functions of Chaldea as advertised."

"So ... he's been using us to change history?" asks Mashu.

"Not our own, in any case," you say. "Or else we wouldn't still be standing here. Probably, just to prevent us from noticing that timelines _aren't_ self-correcting, he's been leyshifting us into completely unrelated realities every time we investigate a 'Singularity.' His goals were never to derail any specific history. If my guess is correct, he's achieved the majority of what he set out to do simply by being in charge of deploying us to combat."

Mashu is perplexed.

"I don't understand," she says. "What does that mean?"

"It means, Mashu-chan," says Roman, smiling maliciously, "that I've already won."


	3. Question 7

Q7. **If Servants are static existences, why are these fights getting harder all the time?**

* * *

"You've noticed, right?" Roman asks, pacing forward across the scarred metallic floor. "You've really had to fight for your victories, recently. It's getting harder and harder to pull off a win - even though you've already upgraded all of your Priority SSR Servant containers to the limitations of FATE. Those monsters and enemy Servants, though - it's like they just keep on getting stronger."

He pauses.

"But then you think to yourself, 'That's kind of odd.'" Tilting his head, he puts a finger on his chin. "Servants are by definition static existences. If you plot them at population by capacity to deny the Common Sense, they form a nice even bell distribution. Over time, random samples of enemy Servants really shouldn't exhibit the gradual attribute scaling you'd see in an RPG. Ignoring the impact of the container upgrades you've been obsessing over lately, enemies should only provide you with as much of a challenge now as they did back at Singularity F, during your first mission. But if that's really the case, how are you having so much trouble?"

"... you utter bastard," you say.

"Have something you'd like to share with the class, Gudako-chan?" asks Roman, pointing a finger in your direction.

"The enemy Servants haven't been getting stronger," you say. "We've been getting weaker."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Mashu objects. "The more you upgrade a Servant's container, the more representative they should be of their base Heroic Spirit. After all of this effort, there isn't any way we'd be weaker than we were at the beginning!"

"If this were a video game, you'd be right," says Da Vinci, picking up on your train of thought. "But remember, FATE is ultimately a thaumaturgical apparatus. You invoke the Mystery behind it too many times too frequently, and the output ends up becoming banal - assimilated into the context of 'the everyday.' After countless activations of the system, any capacity we might have had as summoned Servants to defy the laws of the Common Sense slowly evaporates ..."

"In that case," says Mashu, "why aren't the enemy Servants getting weaker as well?"

"Our abilities as Servants are grounded in the local iteration of Gaia," Da Vinci explains. "Because the rendition of the Second Magic that leyshift is built on is incomplete, whenever we project ourselves into another reality, we're physically and spiritually still within our own - accessing whatever Mysteries we'd normally use. By the same logic, enemy Servants we encounter are materialized on Mysteries native to their own worlds. Thus, they aren't downgraded at the same rate that we are."

"In short," you say, summing it up, "Solomon's goal all along was to restrict any Servants summoned in this particular world to the absolute limits of performance experienced by modern humans."

Roman laughs.

"It's just the law of inflation, you know?" he says. "The more you have of something, the less valuable it is. Would you, for example, be terribly impressed with yet another Saber of the same facial features as Arturia Pendragon?"

Your companions only glare at him stonily, and he raises a brow.

"Tough crowd tonight," he says. "But yeah, you've pretty much hit it on the nail. My dastardly plan was to neuter the defenses that the Counter Force deploys against extinction-level threats. And because Solomon the King is one of the cornerstones that sustains the Common Sense of Man, Alaya is fundamentally incapable of regarding me as a hostile. As always, I act on behalf of humanity - to usher forth the End of Days, one World at a time."

"Humanity doesn't seek its own destruction."

These words that you utter are certain; resolute. They're a promise - because _too much has been sacrificed_ , and you're no longer happy to sit by as a spectator in the ongoing tragedy of mankind.

Doctor Roman, however, smirks knowingly - and shifts again to the outward appearance of the King of Magicians.

"I am Roma," he declares. "I am Great Babylon, to which leads every road lain by the devices of Men. In my unlimited benevolence, I shall therefore enlighten you to a single immutable truth: Without a wish to serve as a heart, there can be born into the world no curse and no devil. The seventy-two Shaytan that have here gathered at my beckon come ultimately of the impulse of Man to render self-destruction - and the Common Sense has yet to raise its sword against them."

Meeting your gaze, he splays his fingers. The tattoos that cover the back of his hand come alight with a crimson glow.

"In this hour," he solemnly intones, "in this land forsaken by Hashem-Elokim - Alaya is not your ally."


	4. Question 8

Q8. **You do realize he was crucified as a political dissident, right?**

* * *

Drifting in the air before Solomon's legs, the glowing formalcraft circle that traces itself into existence isn't familiar to you.

"By the compact of Ausare, I as Companion call you forth," says Solomon. "By the Seven Faces of Man, I create you as Grand Assassin. Come!"

The veiled, bronze-skinned figure that rises from the circle is voluptuously feminine - clad in a midnight-black garment that exposes far too much, and leaves nothing to the imagination.

"The _Qedesha_ ," Martha whispers besides you, breathless. She recognizes the Servant, apparently - and is afraid.

"Eliminate the Master," Solomon commands; the time for explanations is over, it seems.

The demonic beings writhing along the walls don't move to attack; Grand Assassin alone charges forth unspeaking - but vanishes from before you just as Mashu activates the Lord Camelot.

Time itself ceases.

" _Batalah_ , _Ga'avah_ , _Gargranut_ , _Zimah_ , _Ka'as_ , _Kamtzanut_ , _Kin'ah_."

The voice that speaks behind your ear is husky - surprisingly low and masculine, given the Servant's figure.

"These are the names of the seven _to'evot_ cast from my flesh by the Lord, which reside as well in every man and woman descended of Hawwah," she continues. "So too in His name shall I purge them now from you. _Pulsa D'Nura_."

And time resumes; a tearing pain blossoms in your body as Grand Assassin rematerializes at Solomon's side. From within your torso, seven scorching blades pierce outwards, exuding a black steam that smells of curses.

Screaming, you fall to your knees, and your companions can only look on in horror.

"Know this only to be a formality, Daughter of Eve," says Solomon. "I have no pressing need to see you in pain. I do so only to educate you in the meaning of futility. Victory is beyond your reach, now."

As he turns away toward the crimson-red CHALDEAS, blood spills from your lips, and you struggle to right yourself - but, gritting your teeth, you manage somehow to savagely smile.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" you say.


	5. Question 9

Q9. **So, when exactly is it appropriate to draw your hidden Ace?**

* * *

You have a secret: You aren't really the 'Gudako' that Mashu refers to as 'sempai.' You've managed to survive because Grand Assassin performed an attack specifically intended to kill a living human.

"Let me tell you a story," you say.

In the distance, Solomon breaks his stride, and slightly turns his head.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl," you say, climbing painfully to your feet. "Her parents were magi - but for the sin of vastly outperforming their peers in certain specialized domains, they were given a sealing designation by those within the Association who coveted their capabilities."

Upright, you haphazardly jerk one of Grand Assassin's daggers from your flesh. It comes reluctantly loose, eliciting a fresh pain in your abdomen. Blood flows, and you let the weapon clatter to the floor.

"The girl was abducted, taken to the Clock Tower," you continue. "There, she was used as a bargaining chip to pacify her parents and ensure their cooperation. However, as she herself was of no particular thaumaturgical talent - by the workings of the bureaucracy, she was eventually relegated to the care of a man who called himself Romani Eichemann."

"Sempai?" Mashu hesitantly asks, staring bewildered as you cut your hand pulling a second blade from your chest.

"At the time, the girl was only eight or nine," you say, "but Romani Eichemann had plans for her. Utilizing procedures normally reserved for the coining of homunculi, he stole her memories and altered her body - advancing her to physical maturity, and implanting circuits and artificial recollections where necessary. After just a year, she was introduced to Eichemann's associates at Chaldea as the Forty-Eighth Master Candidate of the Grand Order."

Realization spreads across Mashu's face.

"That means, Sempai is ..."

"But the story doesn't end there," you say, letting a third knife fall to the floor. "It doesn't end when Romani Eichemann is revealed to be the author of Chaldea's tragedy. It doesn't even end when the girl's friends and companions are slaughtered like livestock. Somehow, she alone survives. She's good at that. It's her only real skill."

You wince, pressing your teeth together as the fourth knife extracts from the flesh of your breast.

"The girl lives on to witness the arrival of the extinction-level threat prophesied by the King of Magicians," you say. "The seven heroes that once delivered the primate species from the hated Managarmr aren't there to fight - but the best and brightest of humanity choose to make a stand. In the War to End All Wars, they manage to force the enemy into retreat, drawing a stalemate in the blood of millions. By then, however, the world is a scorched and ruined waste."

Mashu is now staring at you in confusion.

"When the girl dies," you say, grasping the edge of the fifth blade, "she's been alive for over two hundred years. Romani Eichemann stole from her the capacity to normally age - and so, when she finally expires, it isn't because her flesh has been scarred by two centuries of injury and oxidation. It's because the Mystery sustaining her continued operation has broken down."

You pull the dagger free, leaving another cut along your palm.

"Those two hundred years weren't wasted, though," you say, gripping the sixth dagger with both your hands. "With parlor tricks and amateurish magecraft, the girl wandered the desolated earth - helping survivors where she could; gathering money and resources. And everywhere she went, she sought out the fragments of manifest potential that had been scattered to the corners of the Human Domain."

Blood gushes from your gut when the blade gives. Your vision swims slightly from the loss of fluids, but only a single knife remains.

"But myths have a way of just springing up, you know?" you say. "In a world where barely any magi survive, a third-rate thaumaturgical practitioner can become a legend. And with two hundred years of 'selfless acts' behind her, her reputation can be very nearly messianic."

The last of the knives clatters to the floor, and you feel your wounds knitting together; your Master's activated one of her Command Seals, as agreed. Lifting your face, you glare into Solomon's back.

"In two hundred years, the one who holds sway over the human imagination as Grand Caster isn't you," you say. "It's me."


	6. Question 10

Q10. **If he can incarnate himself so easily, how is the Third Magic still worth anything?**

* * *

It's a closed-circle mystery.

You - the one playing the role of the great detective - have already witnessed the ending of the story in all of its depressing horror. Because of time shenanigans, however, you're now in the past, and you're using your foreknowledge to cheat pettily in a game of 'deductions.' It's all for a good cause, though.

You intend to teach a valuable lesson to Solomon the Wise.

"You've lied a lot," you say. "But here and now, for the sake of conversation, I'm only gonna call you out on two of your fabrications."

Other than to narrow his eyes, Solomon doesn't respond.

"The first," you say, "is the idea that Grand Servants have carte blanche to incarnate into any timeline at will. Flawless materialization of the soul is impossible - and so, if it happens, it's either mediated by Magic, or explicitly permitted by the Counter Force. Last I checked, Solomon the King happens not to be the current custodian of Heaven's Feel - and outside of imminent apocalypse, Alaya isn't in the habit of passing out its house-keys at all."

"We've seen him manifesting and demanifesting, though," says Da Vinci. "If you're saying that Grand Servants can't actually do that voluntarily, how'd he pull it off?"

You gesture with your arm.

"Sleight of hand," you say. "To an observer in any timeline we visit, our own leyshifting would appear to do exactly the same thing. Difference is, we don't go around telling people that we're higher beings."

"So - this whole time, we really _have_ just been fighting the equivalent of leyshift projections," mutters Da Vinci, eyeing Solomon and Grand Assassin with disdain. "But wait. If Grand Servants can choose not to be summoned, and Solomon isn't able to incarnate himself, how's he even here?"

You give an unladylike snort.

"Clearly, he was summoned," you say, dismissively. "But that brings me to his second fabrication - the idea that, as Grand Servants, we actually have the option of refusing a summons. We don't, period. Otherwise, we wouldn't be Grand Servants."

For once, Da Vinci appears to be as lost as Mashu. You decide to preemptively clarify.

"The concept of a 'Grand Servant' only exists as a thing because Alaya needs a summonable defense against existential threats. So long as we're manifested in the capacity of a Grand Servant, in other words, we're acting on the explicit permission of the Counter Force - at request. Ergo, by definition, you can't be a Grand Servant and still maintain the freedom to refuse a call. It's just outright impossible."

Again, you fix your gaze on Solomon.

"Fortunately," you say, "the King of Magecraft isn't capable of achieving the impossible." The sides of your lips curl upwards. "That's why he's the King of _Magecraft_."


	7. Question 11

Q11. **Did you really expect to win on rhetoric alone?**

* * *

Solomon breaks his silence.

"Your imagination is to be commended," he says, "but outside a court of law, rhetoric is no shield against inevitability. Even were your every exhalation the essence of truth, it remains irrefutable that the men of this world must now confront the Day of Judgment bereft the protections of Mystery. This is their wish - the logic of their demise. I have merely given it substance."

He smiles.

"Indeed," he says, "you proffer no evidence of having succeeded my office."

The King of Magicians presumes his victory on the conviction that you've been defeated.

The time has come to disabuse Solomon of his assumptions.

Without verbal aria, you disengage the effects of _Monte Cristo Mythologie_. No change in your outward appearance ensues, but implementation of identity falsification ceases; your presence is again that of a Grand Servant, and the odic pressure that emanates from the cloaked figure at Mashu's side regresses to levels that one might expect of a thaumaturgical puppet.

" _TRISMEGISTUS_Hermetica_ ," you call. "Report query status."

Into the space behind you, there projects a holographic image: A massive marble statue carved in the classical style, depicting a bearded tricephalic god.

[ _Leyshift trace-route complete,_ ] states a disembodied voice, slightly mechanical in diction. [ _Origin world-line designation resolves to: u.002466 2004. Register destination?_ ]

"Confirm," you reply.

[ _Acknowledged._ ]

"And that's a wrap," you say. "U two-four-six-six is the name of the reality that you and Grand Assassin are projecting in from. Ergo, I've just now registered as a leyshift destination a confirmed timeline where the Foundation of FATE is undamaged enough to allow the summoning of at least two Grand Servants. If I bothered to search, I could probably do better." You smirk. "Seems like this world isn't so doomed after all, yes? Nevermind the fact that I come from a timeline where we didn't actually need Grand Servants to survive in the first place."

Solomon makes a noise with his mouth.

"Foolishness," he says. "The summoning of a Grand Servant is-"

"-categorically denied by FATE?" you interrupt. "Yeah, I'm aware. You've had opportunity enough to sabotage the system, after all." Folding your arms beneath your breasts, you tilt your head. "But you know? Two hundred years is a very long time."

Drifting at equal distance from the walls untainted by Solomon's brood, a multitude of holographic formalcraft circles deploy into hexagonal array - radiating a pale blue light against the crimson brilliance of CHALDEAS. From the circles, hundreds of swords begin to protrude; but rather than shooting forth as projectiles, they fall and shatter harmlessly to the floor in fragments of light.

With a gesture of his arm, Solomon envelops himself and Grand Assassin in a hemispherical barrier, shielding them from the indignation of being rained upon.

"Black Keys?" he asks in disinterest. "The petty trifles of the Apostolic See are of no worth before Solomon the Wise. Should you take to mockery of the King of Heroes, I would rather advise that you adopt a better grade of weaponry."

"Weapons?" you ask. "Nah, these aren't weapons. All of this is just random trash that I'm cannibalizing for Mana-Prisms."

You raise a forefinger to the holograms overhead.

"But that up there?" you say. "That's the Heroic Guardian Deployment Module, _SYSTEMA/FATE_Excursus_ \- my Noble Phantasm. It's FATE 4.0, essentially - a full-system revamp of the old Lord Camelot framework, minus any of the hard restrictions you snuck into its predecessor."

"And does a child's spiritual evocation prop present a viable solution to your dilemma, Daughter of Eve?" Solomon asks. "As a Noble Phantasm, its Mystery holds no offensive advantage - and for the specific purposes of summoning a Grand Servant, it remains virtually impotent irrespective of your efforts. Indeed, of what worth is it?"

The King of Magecraft seems determined to make light of you. Perhaps you've finally managed to hurt his pride?

"You know?" you say, stepping past your companions. "For a Heroic Spirit to mount a proper defense against an existential threat, they need to be present at a hundred percent capacity. Simply replicating the capabilities of a legendary figure into a flawed spiritual container doesn't cut it - and so, in the summoning of any Grand Servant, Alaya makes allowances that it normally wouldn't. The actual soul of a hero is called forth unadulterated - insinuated directly into the World."

You stop on the metal walkway, a bare four meters from Solomon.

"TRISMEGISTUS," you say, "ranks the existential priority of Grand Servants to Class SSSR - which translates to a summoning probability significantly lower than a hundredth of a percent. So, you're right. Utilizing a system derived from FATE, it's practically impossible to roll a Grand Servant - even _if_ the management isn't actively sabotaging your chances of drawing of a higher-priority Servant. However ..."

Holding out your hand, you snap your fingers - and the space before CHALDEAS is abruptly full of stars. In the still air, countless rainbow-colored gems silently gleam.

"... because it's a non-zero probability," you say, "what happens if I try rolling for 'Solomon the King' with two hundred years' worth of Quartz?"


	8. Question 12

Q12. **How much Quartz can you recover from the belly of a whale?**

* * *

Saint Quartz.

The crystallization of potential; of kaleidoscopic futures uncollapsed to a single possibility. In the distant past, the holiest of the blades borne by the King of Knights was forged of a similar material.

Desiring that Servants summoned by FATE would hold the capacity to defy the prophesied apocalypse, the scientists of Chaldea selected this substance as a standardized catalyst, despite its relative scarcity. Instruments were created to discern its presence at short range, and to isolate individual crystals for quantum transmission to remote holding vessels. Being fundamentally conceptual in nature, the rainbow-colored pseudo-mineral is amongst the few physical existences capable of surviving leyshift.

For two hundred years, you sought to amass Quartz by every available channel - through excavation; by whaling on the high seas; by way of purchase; and as compensation for services rendered. At some point, it stopped feeling like a means to an end, and more a testament to the long path that you've walked - proof of the time and effort you've expended to right your wrongs.

The next words you utter have been two centuries in the coming.

" _Lord Babylon,_ " you call, pacing forth. " _Forge of the Never-Ending Dystopia!_ "

The Black Keys no longer rain. In their cessation, the Quartz above you is successively annihilated, and arcs of electricity crackle loudly along the walls. The figures of kings and warriors, heroes and villains manifest and disperse at mounting acceleration within each arrayed formalcraft circle - too quickly for the human eye to follow.

In the air about your raised right arm, seven rings of glowing runic script blaze into visibility - each revolving in the direction opposite its neighbors.

Anticipating an attack of some sort, Solomon raises his arms before him.

" _Yam Ha-Nechoshet_ ," he intones, snarling.

From his body, a wave of darkness emanates - rushing outwards with a gust of freezing wind. It's a claiming of territory, you know. Chaldea now belongs to him, and the very space around you bends to his jurisdiction. In this domain, magecraft is invalidated as an action permissible to humans.

Fortunately, _FATE_Excursus_ doesn't have a definable location, and performs Servant summoning as an automated process. _Remotely_ projecting select results to your immediate environs happens not to qualify as a revocable spell effect.

" _Let the Foundation be of Stone and the Archduke of the Covenant,_ " you say. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Smugly, you smile. " _And from Seventh Heaven, come forth within the Rings of Binding!_ "

Three meters away, Solomon's eyes widen enough for you to see the black of his sclera; his fingers have begun to disintegrate. Even if reduced in priority, _the Summoning of the Heroic Spirits_ is not a Mystery so easily impeded from its intended function. At the explicit mandate of Alaya, its reach exceeds even the boundaries of Worlds.

"Impossible!" he yells. "The _Beit Ha-Mikdash_ is fully establ-"

Before he finishes speaking, his body has crumbled to motes of golden light.


	9. Question 13

Q13. **Does it hurt more if I slap your face with a wad of hundred-dollar bills?**

* * *

Solomon is teleported a mere three meters; his throat is now within the grip of your hand, and you've burned a Command Seal to keep him there. Unsustained by his powers, Grand Assassin disperses in the distance.

Now that the tables have turned, you're free to speak your mind.

"As your successor, I wanted to teach you something about futility," you say. "It's why I dragged out the confrontation for so long, carefully explaining all of the logic leading up to my retaliation. It's why I bothered to tell you who I am, specifically. Everything comes crashing down harder when the person who stomps you into the ground is objectively weaker than you in every way, and defeats you using a method you consider to be utterly idiotic."

Your Strength attribute as a Grand Servant is only a D. However, Solomon is one entire rank below you. In his present disposition, it's becoming difficult for him to breathe - and so he kicks his legs, struggling as you lift him slightly off the floor.

As a Servant, he doesn't actually need air - but some addictions are hard to kick.

"Feels nice being helpless, doesn't it?" you say. "Because of your nature as a Grand Servant, your _actual soul_ is now within my grasp - manifested under a Foundation that you've personally degraded to banality. Your capacity to deny the laws of the Common Sense no longer exceeds that of any Servant in this room. It's why you couldn't resist my Command Seal."

Bending your arm, you draw his face closer to your own.

"You know the biggest reason you lost?" you ask. "As I've said, it's because you're the King of _Magecraft_. Everything you're capable of achieving can be matched or exceeded by means within the Common Sense, given enough time, resources, and effort." In your left hand, you materialize a fragment of Saint Quartz. "It so happens that the countermeasure I've prepared against you is precisely the crystallization of those three concepts."

"Wh- what are you talking about?" he asks. "S- Saint Quartz?"

"No," you say. "Not specifically, at least. I'm talking about the value of money - the oldest Mystery known to human civilization." You shove the Quartz against the skin of his cheek. "Time, effort, and resources. For a hundred thousand years, these have been the things intrinsically represented in coin - and in the end, Saint Quartz is just another denomination of currency."

"N- nothing so pedestrian as money could best the Mysteries of antiquity," he shouts, grasping your arm. "The existential priority of a Grand Servant does not-"

"And yada-yada-yada to you too," you say, snapping the Quartz in your hand. "You can't buy justice with money, but happiness actually isn't all that expensive."

Behind you, Ryougi Shiki blinks - surprised to find her injuries gone, and her prana pool charged to its limit.

"And for my final trick," you say, dramatically, "I'll be purchasing with nothing more than pocket money the permanent removal of a soul from the Throne of Heroes." Turning your head, you glance to your companions. "If you'll do the honors, Shiki-san?"

With a serious expression, Shiki nods - drawing her katana from its sheathe.

"With pleasure, Master," she says.


	10. Answer 1

A1. **A victory purchased is no victory at all.**

* * *

Hacking TRISMEGISTUS, Da Vinci-chan forcibly disengages the lockdown on the facility, releasing the steel plates that block the way to the entrance lobby. Beyond the glass doors that lead out to the helipad, the darkness before dawn has passed.

It isn't yet winter, but in the morning light, your breath frosts in the fresh mountain air.

"Do you really have to leave?" asks the girl standing besides Mashu. "There's still so many things that I wanted to ask you ..."

Sadly, you smile at her.

Her future is no longer your past. When the sun rises again, she'll embark upon an adventure that you know nothing of - for which your every bit of wisdom and experience would only be a hindrance.

Yours is a history of mistakes. Hers is a future of unlimited potential. This is the way that things should've been, long ago. This is the epilogue that you fought for, and failed to reach.

"Don't worry," you say to her - to yourself. "You'll be fine without me. Whatever hardships you face; whatever difficulties you'll have to endure - just remember one thing: Persevere, and have hope. That way lies the path to tomorrow."

With those words, you pat her on the shoulder and turn away into the sunrise. No further goodbyes are necessary; you have the utmost faith that she'll succeed in any endeavor she commits to.

After all, she has, once before.

This is the Rite of Succession: The Grand Order.

* * *

When Alaya's sustenance ceases, and you've finally dispersed to golden dust, the girl says to herself, "Someday, I'm gonna be just as loaded as future-me."

Mashu shoots her a worried look.

"I don't think that's actually a healthy goal to work towards, Sempai ..."


	11. Answer 2

A2. **When going on a trip, it's just good sense to pack a bento.**

* * *

She stays for exactly a week in the wake of Solomon's defeat - evacuating to medical facilities in Geneva the scores of staff members consigned to cold sleep for their injuries. Then - informing only Da Vinci of her itinerary - she takes leave of the lab in the middle of the night, hitching a ride to civilization on the outward flight of a supplies copter.

Saying farewell is a skill she likely won't master for a century yet.

In the morning, when Da Vinci announces the girl's departure to the Servants who chose to remain within the present, Mashu wastes no time in packing her belongings. The Chaldean project has been her _raison d'etre_ for nearly as long as she can remember; and in its completion, she has no excuse to further remain.

The strength of a Heroic Spirit is invested still within her flesh. If it can be of aid at all to the girl who befriended her, Mashu is willing to endure any number of euphemisms pertaining to 'marshmallow.'

She has, for the first time in her life, managed to connect with another human being in a meaningful manner. She isn't about to let that go.

* * *

At Gare de Cornavin in Geneva - some eight hours behind her quarry - Mashu boards a train to Basel; and at destination, switches over to the Intercity Express to Karlsruhe. By midday, en route to Paris, her stomach has begun to protest the reduced portion of her rushed breakfast; and the offerings of the on-board meal cart are distinctly unappetizing. Thankfully, in her boundless foresight, Da Vinci spent the wee hours of morning preparing a three-tiered juubako for Mashu's enjoyment.

Right as she unwraps the cloth cover of the lacquered box, however, Mashu is unpleasantly surprised to detect an odd shaking from the topmost tray. Apprehensive that there could be a rodent, she puts the box on her compartment table and carefully removes the lid. Curled within, Fou-kun looks to her balefully.

"Fou ... ?" he says, as if to ask whether or not she intends to eat him. Arturia and Herakles have attempted to do so when short on field rations in the past. Understandably, Fou-kun remains deeply traumatized.

Mashu releases the breath she was unconsciously holding in, giggling despite herself.

"No, Fou-kun," she says, lifting him from the container and placing him on the seat beside her. "I'm not going to eat you. And quoting Caesar-san like that is impolite."

She gives him a reassuring pat to the head, and turns again to her lunchbox. Hopefully, she thinks, there won't be any more surprises.

Removing the upper tray, she sets it aside - and finds happily that the layer below contains two servings of vinegar rice sprinkled with sesame, a bisected square of tamagoyaki, and - a small pile of Saint Quartz?

With her chopsticks, Mashu lifts one of the crystals before her face. It glistens merrily in the sunlight.

"Is this even edible?" she asks.

"Fou!" Fou-kun replies. "Fou fou~!"

Mashu frowns, considering the Quartz doubtfully. To her inexpert appraisal, the gem is indistinguishable from actual mineral.

"Well, if you say so," she says. "I hope you're right about this ..."

Experimentally, she places the stone within her mouth and takes a bite, closing her eyes. The crystalline lattice is brittle, and crunches with the satisfying ease of hard candy between her molars. It tastes vaguely of honey, she thinks - except with the coolness of mint; and, unexpectedly, the rapid regeneration of her odic stores.

The bottom tray of the juubako is filled almost entirely with Quartz.

"I'll save the rest of this for Sempai," Mashu decides, finishing her bento. "If we run into trouble, it'll come in handy."

Looking to the ever-changing landscape beyond the window, she puts her hand on Fou-kun's head and rubs his ears - trying to persuade herself that everything will be fine. Though she comprehends now that the future cannot be foreordained, she hasn't been able to shake the suspicion that her Sempai's choice to journey for London comes at the providence of some unseen force.

"I'll be there for her," she promises, hugging Fou-kun tightly to her chest. "Even if the entire world turns against us, I'll be there for her."

* * *

[ _ **Fin**_.]


	12. Answer 3 - April Fool's Ending

A3. [ **April Fools Ending** ]: **The Man From the Land of Dreams**

* * *

Far away, in the Never-Distant Utopia, a pleasant-looking man furrows his brow.

"Thank you for the report," he says. "His Highness will be informed. For now, please continue to observe."

The fur-clad Archer before him nods his assent - wordlessly dematerializing. Left alone in the grand hall, the man straightens his business suit and approaches a side-entrance to the throne room. Sighing, he pushes open the door and ventures within.

With his eyes respectfully lowered, he crosses the long expanse of the reception chamber in silence, and falls to a knee upon the red carpet before the seat of the King.

"My liege," he announces. "Solomon has fallen."

The voice that replies is terrible in its inhumanity:

"I see ... A more direct approach, then."

Clad in robes of midnight, the misshapen figure upon the throne rises, summoning in its right hand a bizarre sword in the shape of a key. With the four digits of its left hand, it forms a fist, and a jeweled gauntlet manifests about the appendage - blazing with power.

"Go, Walter," it says. "Inform Chancellor Palpatine that his personal attentions are required."

Black mist issues from the sword.

"Nobody refuses the Empire of Dreams," the King of Kings declares. "Nobody refuses the _Mouse_."


	13. Servant Profile: Grand Assassin

**GRAND ASSASSIN** / **Magdalena**

Master / Solomon the Wise  
Alignment / Lawful Good

* * *

STR C  
END C  
AGL A

Mana D  
Luck E  
N-Ph EX

* * *

The bearer of the Blade and Chalice, who stands beneath the shadow of the Cross. The one called the Woman of Magdala; custodian to the sacraments unseen.

Of the entourage kept by the Saint in his travels of the Orient, there was one who stood apart from his disciples: A woman who partook not of prayer, and clad herself in the garb and mannerisms of a harlot.

To the faithful, it was inexplicable that a woman of vice would be tolerated amongst them - but she was at the word of the Saint himself permitted to linger. Thus, after the daughters of the _goyim_ who would profane their flesh at the behest of false deities, she was in mocking whispers called by the name of _Qedesha_ \- the consecrated one, set aside for God.

The circle of Apostles were privy to a different truth:

Steeped in desperation to heal her sickly brother; in the blackest of arts that were the instinct and birthright of the men of Arzareth, she had before the Saint come as the dagger of his adversaries - the first among assassins.

To answer her enmity, the Saint granted salvation. Shattering first the knives borne of her curses, he cast from her the demons that had come of her pain and passions, which twisted her further to distortion with every invocation of her ancestral craft. Thereafter, on finding her sibling, he bestowed upon him a miracle - reversing the wasting ills that had consumed his limbs.

In gratitude - unable to render restitution by the familiar means of the flesh - the woman pledged herself to the protection of her benefactor, vowing to see him unharmed unto the termination of his pilgrimage; his appointed hour of judgment.

Her service did not end upon the hill of Golgotha. It did not end on the Day of Resurrection, or in the wake of the empty tomb. By the Pentecost, she had witnessed the birth of his legacy, and had come to understand that her debt was best repaid not to the man, but to the house that he had built - the ministry he had founded.

It was in this conviction that she consigned herself to the shadows of the Rock and the Cross - wielding her knives anew to secure and safeguard the foundation of the Holy Church.

* * *

 **Skills**

* * *

 _ **Domain Imposition**_ / **Rank EX**

By way of distortion, the Servant is able to regulate her immersion within the Domain of Man, controlling the extent to which she is percievable to humans. Differing from 'Presence Concealment,' upwards amplification of presence is possible, and suppression of existence may be initiated even in the midst of a hostile action. This skill also permits the bypassing of spatial obstructions, such as the perimeters of bounded field.

 _ **Witchcraft**_ / **Rank A**

The discipline of intentional cursecraft control, often as achieved via formulaic ritual. At Rank A, curses deployed have the capacity to deny any law short of a Divine Mystery.

 _ **Blessings of the Saint**_ / **Rank A**

A multi-fold blessing founded in Divine Mystery, primarily intended to confer immunity to mental contamination and interference. In the specific circumstance of Grand Assassin, however, certain anatomical modifications accompany - including vocal masculinization.

* * *

 **Noble Phantasms**

* * *

 _ **Pulsa D'Nura**_ / _**The Angel of the Inferno**_ / **Anti-Unit** \- **Rank EX**

Though it takes the name of a Kabbalistic ceremony (the Sixty Pulses of Flame) that invalidates the heavenly forgiveness of sin, the _Pulsa D'Nura_ as actualized by Grand Assassin is in reality an inversion of the concept - the imposition of a curse that draws upon the vices of the victim, proportionally manifesting them as daggers, and actualizing injuries via the extrusion of the blades from the flesh. This technique may have had its origins in certain Near Eastern rituals of purification and public censure.

Though unblockable, the curse is not guaranteed to be absolutely lethal, and a number of conditions apply to its use:

a) _The attack can be initiated only within melee range - though range limitations can generally be bypassed via use of Domain Imposition._

b) _The attack can be inflicted only upon targets of human descent - specifically, of the 'lineage of Hawwah' (Eve)._

c) _Grand Assassin must directly communicate the nature of the attack. To facilitate this, her consciousness briefly interfaces with the victim in the moment of execution. Until the process is concluded, time outside of the communication is subjectively halted for both parties._

The seven vices utilized by the curse are _Batalah_ (sloth), _Ga'avah_ (pride), _Gargranut_ (gluttony), _Zimah_ (lust), _Ka'as_ (wrath), _Kamtzanut_ (greed), and _Kin'ah_ (envy). The action of _Pulsa D'Nura_ directly extracts from the mind and soul the libidinic potentials invested in each vice, and materializes their essence in steel - effectively forging a set of cursed weapons at equivalent priority to the flesh and the natural defenses of the victim. In consequence, the victim is temporarily purged or purified of _to'evot_ (abominable desires).

Grand Assassin reserves an alternative Noble Phantasm for targets of inhuman stature and origin.


	14. Servant Profile: Grand Caster

**GRAND CASTER** / **Lachesis**

Master / unknown  
Alignment / Chaotic Good

* * *

STR D  
END C  
AGL E

Mana A  
Luck -  
N-Ph EX

* * *

Maitreya; Edith Dantes; the Wanderer of the Waste; the Maiden of the World's End. A legend that emerged of the Twilight of Man, when the concept of 'heroes' could itself no longer bear meaning. By her works and miracles, she brought salvation to countless, and ensured the survival of civilization unto the dawn of the Liners.

In subsequent eras, she was exalted as 'the Redeemer of the End' - but the world-spanning desolation wrought in the decades of the Great War came in truth as a direct consequence of her actions.

She was created 'Lachesis' - designated after the Apportioner; the Drawer of Lots.

Via the processes normally reserved to the coining of homunculi, she was prepared as a proxy to the will of Solomon the Wise - a pawn through which the ancient king designed to strip humanity of the protections afforded by Mystery against threats of existence. Made to facilitate the slaughter of those she considered her allies and compatriots, she was let alone to survive by the sacrifice of her closest friend - and thereon, vowed vengeance upon the King of Magicians.

This was the method of her retribution: The intentional forgery of a messianic mythology.

Though motivated initially to charity by an unfocused need to make amends, she came gradually to recognize the stories and tales left in her wake as an instrument to her goals. If she could ascend as a Heroic Spirit - a Grand Servant of the Final Age - the annihilation of Solomon the Wise was not a fantasy. The very scenario for which she was crafted provided the knowledge requisite to achieve this - and in his failure to anticipate the survival of humanity beyond the killing fields of the Great War, Solomon had himself demonstrated the limitations of his apparent omniscience. All that remained was for her to cast herself in the capacity and role of his executioner.

Within his hour of victory - at the culmination of the Fate that he had foreordained - she would bring his eternal soul to cessation. This was her promise.

She consigned the remainder of her life to paradox - laboring in ceaseless compassion out of hatred; and devoting to others the entirety of her being in a perfect selfishness. To deny the present, she lived to die - and in so doing, paved the way to the future. Her legacy was the rebirth of humanity, built upon unlimited destruction.

* * *

 **Class Skills**

* * *

 _ **Territory Creation**_ / **Rank A++** ( **C** )

The thaumaturgical capacity to impose primacy of control over a spatial domain, as in the creation of an Atelier. Owing to lack of skill in direct thaumaturgical practice, the Servant is capable only of establishing a traditional Bounded Field at an effective Rank of C. Assisted, however, by _FATE_Excursus_ , a bounded domain with an effective Rank of A++ may be very briefly established for purposes of defense against Anti-Fortress attacks.

 _ **Item Creation**_ / **Rank EX**

Capacity in the manufacture of thaumaturgical objects, inclusive of Mystic Codes and such existences as artificial elementals or _automata_. At Rank EX, this skill permits the automated implementation and management of fragmentary True Magics by means of modern technology.

* * *

 **Personal Skills**

* * *

 _ **Magecraft**_ / **Rank EX**

Knowledge and capacity within the discipline of modern thaumaturgy. Though in life, the Servant possessed a large quantity of high-grade circuits, she was of severely limited capability in the practical use of spells - being self-taught, and without the direct instruction of a mentor. Specializing instead in theoretical formalcraft, she was able to singlehandedly salvage the thaumaturgical technologies of Chaldea - refining them to the extent that _automata_ -assisted phenomenon implementation could be used as a direct replacement for invocations of Mystery up to a ten-count Aria.

As Grand Caster, the Servant is independently capable of performing basic magecraft to an effective Rank of C; but with the support of her Noble Phantasms, even the fragmentary rendition of the True Magics isn't beyond her grasp.

 ** _Golden Rule_** ( **False** ) / **unranked**

The capacity to acquire material wealth. Differing from _Golden Rule_ (True), this skill cannot be quantified as a denial of the Common Sense per the circumstances of supernatural fortune. Rather, it represents mundane aptitude in the capitalistic endeavor - and is thus unranked. Grand Caster's proficiency in this skill potentially confers a level of monetary income comparable to the provisions of a Rank B in _Golden Rule_ (True).

 _ **Determination of Steel**_ / **Rank EX**

The discipline and focus to optimize the use of mental faculties regardless of circumstance; the capacity to indefinitely maintain a persona or mental state without flaw, or to perform a repetitive task for any duration of time; the capacity to perfectly negate mental interference of both the mundane and thaumaturgical varieties. As in the circumstance of _Bravery_ , this includes factors such as pain, pressure, confusion, and fascination. _Determination of Steel_ cannot be used while under the effects of _Mad Enhancement_.

 _ **Cetacea**_ / **Rank EX**

An alien rationality on the matter of 'consumption,' as might govern an organism whose existence itself occurs at a vastly larger scale than an individual human. Though ultimately incomprehensible to humanity, beings possessed of this trait are frequently said to possess a bizarre charisma - eliciting an inexplicable, irrational envy in those that look upon them.

As a personal skill at Rank EX, the trait confers a weak, curse-like allure to the Servant, and confounds opponent skills that would normally enable anticipation or insight into the Servant's prospective actions. Furthermore, it enables a complete negation of mental interference by thaumaturgical means.

* * *

 **Noble Phantasms**

* * *

 _ **Monte Cristo Mythologie**_ / _**The King of the Cavern**_ / **Anti-Unit** \- **Rank A**

A Noble Phantasm that designates Grand Caster as a conqueror of Chateau d'If, and the successor to the will of Edmond Dantes; a sublimation of her actions as an incarnation of vengeance, and of the life she led as the many-faced 'Maiden of the World's End.'

In voluntary activation without the release of its True Name, the Noble Phantasm permits the temporary fixture of falsified information to multiple objects and individuals within the recognition of Alaya - supplanting the perceptions of any human observer subordinant to the Common Sense. If, for example, a target is appended with the identity of a Servant, attempts by a Master to visualize the target's parameters will display only the information volunteered by Grand Caster; and the target's odic presence will authentically suggest the spiritual stature of a Servant.

 _Monte Cristo Mythologie_ may be used as a substitute for _Presence Concealment_. In the event that its True Name is released, an alternative function is triggered ...

 _ **SYSTEMA/FATE_Excursus**_ / _**Heroic Guardian Deployment Module**_ / **Support** \- **Defense** \- **Rank EX**

One of the three _automata_ crafted by Grand Caster within her lifetime, for use in the assistance or automation of phenomenon realization and information gathering; a 'machine' fabricated of interlocking concepts, divorced entirely from the domain of physical reality. Designed after the functions of Chaldea's Heroic Guardian Deployment System "FATE."

A spiritual evocation engine that requires only the mental administration of a user and the input of a catalyst, deriving the materialization of Servants and Conceptual Armaments from _the Summoning of the Heroic Spirits_ and _Lord Camelot_ , _the Fortress of the Distant Utopia_. Though _FATE_Excursus_ is itself without the attribute of 'location,' the output of evocations can be freely localized to any spatial position; and visual representations of system processes may be allocated to holographic displays at will.

 _FATE_Excursus_ is additionally invoked in the defensive use of _Territory Creation_ ; countless holographic replicas of _Lord Chaldeas_ are virtually deployed to demarcate the boundary of a shielded domain.

 _ **SYSTEMA/TRISMEGISTUS_Hermetica**_ / _**Refraction-Image Observation Module**_ / **Support** \- **Rank EX**

One of the three _automata_ crafted by Grand Caster within her lifetime, for use in the assistance or automation of phenomenon realization and information gathering; a 'machine' fabricated of interlocking concepts, divorced entirely from the domain of physical reality. Designed after Chaldea's Spiritron Calculation Engine "TRISMEGISTUS," the system subsumes and encompasses the original functions of CHALDEAS and SHIVA.

Founded upon a fragmentary rendition of the Second Magic, _TRISMEGISTUS_Hermetica_ was created as an observational instrument with which to approach, within human means, the boundary of omniscience. In operation, the conceptual topography of Alaya as extant within a targeted world-line is approximated to a fractal schematic, and data pertaining to a particular temporal-spatial locale is extrapolated to specificity - subjected to quantum analysis for purposes of parsing and representation to human comprehension. Though multiple world-lines and locales may be modeled in parallel for purposes of analysis and comparison, detail is progressively lost with distance from the consolidation of Alaya near the end of the Age of Divinities.

In the activation of _Lord Babylon_ , _FATE_Excursus_ is granted permission to access the resources of _TRISMEGISTUS_Hermetica_ for analytical support in formalcraft calculations.

 _ **Lord Babylon**_ / _**Forge of the Never-Ending Dystopia**_ / **Anti-Foundation** \- **Rank EX**

Consumption unto banality; the devaluation that comes of mass-proliferation, fueled upon the unrestricted expenditure of resources; the immolation of the past and future for the benefit of the present. This was the purpose for which Grand Caster was created; the artificial Origin embedded within her soul at the ministrations of Solomon the Wise - which set her upon the path of tragedy, and eventually rendered meaningless the worth of 'heroes.'

Even so, the concept of 'consumption unto banality' is one among the foundational elements to the Common Sense - for as civilization advances, the equalization of means inevitably eliminates the threat of exceptional existences. Therefore, with the proliferation of firearms, the age of 'heroes' came to termination. Though the legacy of Grand Caster was one of destruction, her actions served to free humanity from reliance upon the fantasies of its adolescence.

Crystallized as a Noble Phantasm, _Lord Babylon_ manifests in two components: First, as a repository of the worldly wealth amassed by Grand Caster in the course of her lifetime. Second, as the capacity to expend 'currency' within her immediate presence as a replacement for prana in the realization of any phenomenon within the means of her three _automata_.

On the logic that an infinitesimally improbable event must occur with a large enough sample size, the complete activation of _Lord Babylon_ actualizes a consequence not dissimilar to that of a Marble Phantasm - giving rendition to a specifically desired reality at the outcome of innumerable failures, and at the consequence of permanently debasing the Mystery invoked to achieve it. In this utilization, _Lord Babylon_ is considered an Anti-Foundation Noble Phantasm.


End file.
